[web] Feedback on my website
Author
First off, not sure if this is the best place to put it. Prehaps 'My Announcements', becuase its could be considered advertisement.
Well, here it goes:
I'd like to get some feedback on my recently re-designed website. If you could tell me what you think about it in these categories, that would be nice.
Usability: How easy is it to navigate? Was it clear what the website was for? Did it all work properly? Do you think it would it be easy to use for a less-experienced web user?
Readability: Was the text hard to read? Were there any gramatical or spelling mistakes? Was it hard to follow?
Graphical Design: Was it annoying to look at? How was the color-scheme?
Any other comments would be great, but this is just a rough guideline as to what I'd specifically like feedback on. Oh, and I realize that the title picture is rather generic, I'm working on remaking it. If you have any suggestions regarding this, I'd like to hear those, too.
Thanks in advanced!
The site was easy enough to navigate. The main page explained what you intend well enough.
"Do you think it would be easy to use for a less-experienced web user?"
Who exactly is your target audience? Open source software the user can compile themselves hardly rates inexperienced web user these days.
Readability was fine. The text didn't clash. The blue background was a bit strong for my taste but matched well enough. Sorry, didn't bother grammer/spell check it. Run it through MS Word or OpenOffice.
Color scheme was a bit plain and the blue was a little strong for my taste(already mentioned)
I know you said you are working on the header graphic. That is good. It seem very generic. If the feeling you are going for is personal web page you got it. If you were trying for something else, it might need some work.
Also, I read somewhere that using frames makes it difficult for some search engines to spider your page.
"Do you think it would be easy to use for a less-experienced web user?"
Who exactly is your target audience? Open source software the user can compile themselves hardly rates inexperienced web user these days.
Readability was fine. The text didn't clash. The blue background was a bit strong for my taste but matched well enough. Sorry, didn't bother grammer/spell check it. Run it through MS Word or OpenOffice.
Color scheme was a bit plain and the blue was a little strong for my taste(already mentioned)
I know you said you are working on the header graphic. That is good. It seem very generic. If the feeling you are going for is personal web page you got it. If you were trying for something else, it might need some work.
Also, I read somewhere that using frames makes it difficult for some search engines to spider your page.
Good questions in your post - it's much easier to critique a website if we know what you want!
Usability:
"Index" confused me, and I know that main pages are called index.htm. "Home" really is the standard for the web, and I would expect that you'll throw people off this way. Also, why not make your main logo a link home, as well?
The other links do exactly what I expect (although most people use "News" instead of "Updates," I don't see that as a problem).
Readability:
Sure, it works. I don't know that...
Add a space here, before the opening parenthesis:
Graphic Design:
The next comments span readability and graphic design. Your site lacks white space in some places:
* Some extra left padding/margin would be appreciated in your gray text boxes. The text is just a little uncomfortable that close to the edge of the box.
* The dates/game titles suffer from the same problem (but especially the titles). They sit right next to the left side of their tiny box.
* Also, your links need some vertical space between them. Perhaps not an entire extra line, but some space would make the page a little less condensed and hectic.
* All pages need some space at the bottom of the text boxes. Two extra line breaks would be perfect (inside the gray box). Some space between the gray box and the disclaimer is also needed, as is space between the disclaimer and the three button/banners (which really don't need to be there).
Your links feel dead; they have no hover feature. Even a slight change in color would be appreciated. I like the way the left navigation links work, and certainly think that you should not break the feel of the hover style with your regular links.
The size issue. I realize you have a disclaimer that suggests 1024*768. For the most part, your site works at smaller resolutions - except for the H3 elements. It's annoying that they actually move over and begin to encroach upon and even cover up the navigation links. If anything screams for a minimum size, it's that piece of padding.
Frames. Why on earth are you using frames? You only have one frame! It's needlessly annoying to search engines, mucked up browsers, and people who like to right click > view source.
Your H3 headers need to be in a different color. It's fine that the dates don't stand out very much, but your game titles should be more visible than the game description, which is certainly not the case right now.
Other than that, it works. It's not high-class and professional, but it's effective and gets the point across. Which, to be honest, makes it better than most sites that are considered high-class and professional. Just a few minor changes, and it will be a lot better, too. Good job!
...Now it's just time for more content! Get working on more games!
Usability:
"Index" confused me, and I know that main pages are called index.htm. "Home" really is the standard for the web, and I would expect that you'll throw people off this way. Also, why not make your main logo a link home, as well?
The other links do exactly what I expect (although most people use "News" instead of "Updates," I don't see that as a problem).
Readability:
Sure, it works. I don't know that...
Quote:Welcome to Passageway Gaming. Prepare to enter a new realm of gaming....is necessary, though. Just start with your purpose (the next paragraph is perfect). In fact, you might add "Fun. Free. Open Source. Games." up there with your header to make the purpose of the site even more clear. Otherwise, the front page is very useful.
Add a space here, before the opening parenthesis:
Quote:image loading(for .tga
Quote:I have begun making...doesn't work. "I have started making," "I have begun work on," or "I am starting" would be better.
Graphic Design:
The next comments span readability and graphic design. Your site lacks white space in some places:
* Some extra left padding/margin would be appreciated in your gray text boxes. The text is just a little uncomfortable that close to the edge of the box.
* The dates/game titles suffer from the same problem (but especially the titles). They sit right next to the left side of their tiny box.
* Also, your links need some vertical space between them. Perhaps not an entire extra line, but some space would make the page a little less condensed and hectic.
* All pages need some space at the bottom of the text boxes. Two extra line breaks would be perfect (inside the gray box). Some space between the gray box and the disclaimer is also needed, as is space between the disclaimer and the three button/banners (which really don't need to be there).
Your links feel dead; they have no hover feature. Even a slight change in color would be appreciated. I like the way the left navigation links work, and certainly think that you should not break the feel of the hover style with your regular links.
The size issue. I realize you have a disclaimer that suggests 1024*768. For the most part, your site works at smaller resolutions - except for the H3 elements. It's annoying that they actually move over and begin to encroach upon and even cover up the navigation links. If anything screams for a minimum size, it's that piece of padding.
Frames. Why on earth are you using frames? You only have one frame! It's needlessly annoying to search engines, mucked up browsers, and people who like to right click > view source.
Your H3 headers need to be in a different color. It's fine that the dates don't stand out very much, but your game titles should be more visible than the game description, which is certainly not the case right now.
Other than that, it works. It's not high-class and professional, but it's effective and gets the point across. Which, to be honest, makes it better than most sites that are considered high-class and professional. Just a few minor changes, and it will be a lot better, too. Good job!
...Now it's just time for more content! Get working on more games!
Author
Thanks everyone.
@Morpheus - It has worked for me and everyone else. This is a link to the actual web page, not the .tk domain.
@IronGryphon - If you didn't notice the grammar/spelling mistakes, then it can't be too bad. I'll probably put it through word, though. I'll also look into some different blue shades, and possibly replacing the 'boring' greys. My target audience is not necessarily an open source-junkie with their own compilers, I do include the windows binaries. The only time when you'd need to recompile them is if you use Linux or Mac. Think of the open source part as a bonus. Do you think I should make a download for my games without the source? Most of my users don't need it, and this would make the folder cleaner and the download (a little) smaller.
BTW, its not using frames, just CSS.
@AvatarGod - Thanks for pointing out that 'Index' part. I had put it there when I was first fooling about with the design, and never changed it. And I like the suggestion to use 'News' not 'Updates'.
Okay, will do. I'm not sure why "I have begun making" is bad, but I'll trust your judgement.
That's a really good point, hadn't noticed it.
That must be .tk messing it up! The actual source of my website, doesn't use frames. Just if someone wants to get back to my website they aren't going to remeber users.adelphia.net/~36oldmilford. I'd buy a real domain name if my website got a fair amount of hits, but it doesn't.
Again, thanks for your time.
@Morpheus - It has worked for me and everyone else. This is a link to the actual web page, not the .tk domain.
@IronGryphon - If you didn't notice the grammar/spelling mistakes, then it can't be too bad. I'll probably put it through word, though. I'll also look into some different blue shades, and possibly replacing the 'boring' greys. My target audience is not necessarily an open source-junkie with their own compilers, I do include the windows binaries. The only time when you'd need to recompile them is if you use Linux or Mac. Think of the open source part as a bonus. Do you think I should make a download for my games without the source? Most of my users don't need it, and this would make the folder cleaner and the download (a little) smaller.
BTW, its not using frames, just CSS.
@AvatarGod - Thanks for pointing out that 'Index' part. I had put it there when I was first fooling about with the design, and never changed it. And I like the suggestion to use 'News' not 'Updates'.
Quote:Add a space here, before the opening parenthesis:
Okay, will do. I'm not sure why "I have begun making" is bad, but I'll trust your judgement.
Quote:
Your links feel dead; they have no hover feature. Even a slight change in color would be appreciated. I like the way the left navigation links work, and certainly think that you should not break the feel of the hover style with your regular links.
That's a really good point, hadn't noticed it.
Quote:Frames.
That must be .tk messing it up! The actual source of my website, doesn't use frames. Just if someone wants to get back to my website they aren't going to remeber users.adelphia.net/~36oldmilford. I'd buy a real domain name if my website got a fair amount of hits, but it doesn't.
Again, thanks for your time.
Hey, I really enjoyed the site.
But it was boring. :)
plain text can be fine, but some images can make a huge difference in design.
keep up the good work!
But it was boring. :)
plain text can be fine, but some images can make a huge difference in design.
keep up the good work!
I found a potential bug. When I load a page, the items to the left are spaced out rather far from one another. However scrolling over them causes the distance to shrink so they're one on top of the other.
On the various pages, grey on grey is a bad thing for the dates, game titles, etc. I found it hard to read when I was simply scanning the text.
By the way, I'm using IE.
On the various pages, grey on grey is a bad thing for the dates, game titles, etc. I found it hard to read when I was simply scanning the text.
By the way, I'm using IE.
Weird! No, really, that's weird that the .tk does that. I mean, it's definately using one giant frame for no good reason:
But yeah, the site looks good (and I'm glad to know you didn't do the weird frame thing, because it's just bizarre).
<html> <head> <title>Passageway Gamming</title> <meta name="description" content="A free games website. Here I program Windows games using C++. I use both SDL and OpenGL for graphics. All of my games are open-source and should be compatible with Linux and Macintosh, but you would have to compile them yourself."> <meta name="keywords" content="OpenGL, SDL, c++, free, games, open-source, programming"> </head> <frameset rows="*,1" framespacing="0" border="0" frameborder="NO"> <frame src="http://users.adelphia.net/~36oldmilford/" name="dot_tk_frame_content" scrolling="auto" noresize> </frameset> <noframes> <body> </body> </noframes></html>But yeah, the site looks good (and I'm glad to know you didn't do the weird frame thing, because it's just bizarre).
Author
The frames are for .TK to put ads on my website, but I've disabled them. If I allow it to put a banner ad, then it uses a second frame at the top. I geuss that they just kept it the same for no ads.
@Tradone - Yeah, I've got three pictures on the entire website(not including the mini ones at the bottom. Too many pictures is bad, too, but my site is a tad uninteresting.
@TheFez - My site does seem to have some minor problems in IE. Unfortunately, its hard for me to test it becuase I downloaded the beta of IE 7(on which my site works), and that killed IE 6. So I have to test it on a different computer.
I will look into other colors for the grey-on-grey parts.
@Tradone - Yeah, I've got three pictures on the entire website(not including the mini ones at the bottom. Too many pictures is bad, too, but my site is a tad uninteresting.
@TheFez - My site does seem to have some minor problems in IE. Unfortunately, its hard for me to test it becuase I downloaded the beta of IE 7(on which my site works), and that killed IE 6. So I have to test it on a different computer.
I will look into other colors for the grey-on-grey parts.
Well, another IE6 issue is with the h3 headers. They don't extend to the left of the main gray box... So, all you can usually read is "1/05" instead of the entire date.
The spacing is off in several places (other than the weird pre-hover nav links). In the Links page, IE has no padding at the top of the gray box (that is, between the border and the text), and far too much at the bottom.
Also, when the left navigation pane is all stretched out, it pushes your footer information way down to the bottom of the page. It also adds scroll bars vertically and horizontally, which is annoying.
Hmm. Also, the entire nav pane doesn't always shrink back to what it needs to be. Sometimes it just rolls up half of the list - I think it depends where you roll your mouse over. If you roll over Home, it works, but not really if you roll over Links.
Anyways, I always forget to check pages in IE too. My page was a wreck in IE for a while (I forgot that IE doesn't recognize comments in .CSS the same as Firefox).
The spacing is off in several places (other than the weird pre-hover nav links). In the Links page, IE has no padding at the top of the gray box (that is, between the border and the text), and far too much at the bottom.
Also, when the left navigation pane is all stretched out, it pushes your footer information way down to the bottom of the page. It also adds scroll bars vertically and horizontally, which is annoying.
Hmm. Also, the entire nav pane doesn't always shrink back to what it needs to be. Sometimes it just rolls up half of the list - I think it depends where you roll your mouse over. If you roll over Home, it works, but not really if you roll over Links.
Anyways, I always forget to check pages in IE too. My page was a wreck in IE for a while (I forgot that IE doesn't recognize comments in .CSS the same as Firefox).
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